My kids have never been exposed to many commercials. Though only in the strictest sense of the word: I am fully aware that NickJr. advertises the shit out of other NickJr. shows and products under the guise of:

"LET'S GET UP AND MOVE WITH THE FRESH BEAT BAND, EVERY WEEKDAY AT 4, YAY EXERCISE!"

"LET'S GO BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE THEATER FOR A LOOK AT A CARTOON-TIE-IN LIVE SHOW THAT WILL COST YOU $375 AND YOUR WILL TO LIVE, YAY CULTURE!"

But thanks to the cable networks and TiVo, they (so far) have mostly been spared seeing the kinds of commercials I remember from the Saturday morning cartoon block, where every toy was the most amazing fucking toy in the history of the fucking universe, oh my God, go wake up your mom RIGHT NOW and start screeching about her hair grows all by by itself AND she goes potty AND she has fairy wings AND a matching purse AND a dreamhouse with a jacuzzi sold separately AND you can put GLITTER in the jacuzzi until you forget to breathe in and pass out cold on your parents' bedroom floor because GLITTERY DIAPER-WEARING FAIRY HOT TUB PARTIES WITH VERY TINY COMBINATION COMBS/MAGIC WANDS OMFG BZZZZT.

That never happened in our house. Until...Pillow Pets.

Now, I know that those of you with young children are like, "Fuck you, I am not clicking on that video." Because you know. YOU KNOW.

For everybody else: I swear to God, this is a THING. This is the toddler/preschooler equivalent to a life-sized plush Justin Beiber with coordinating Silly Bandz woven directly into its creepy, synthetic hair.

This commercial airs after pretty much every episode of Sesame Street, and if you're like me, you're thinking: Wait, wasn't the Whole Point of Sesame Street that there weren't any commercials? Just maybe a "Sesame Street Is Brought To You In Part By Evil Corporation X Who Totes Doesn't Want To Advertise Or Anything But Just Gave Money To Big Bird Because It CARES And Shit" title card or something?

No more, sadly. It seems that Sesame Street moved to cable (PBS Sprout) and learned a very important lesson in capitalism during a sleepover where Ernie decided to order a Slap-Chop and a Snuggie off late-night informercials and Kermit was all, LOW-RENT AS-SEEN-ON-TV COMMERCIALS ARE THE SHIT. WE'RE ALL GOING TO BE RICH.

True story.

So Noah saw the commercial for Pillow Pets. And started dropping hints about how he would really like a Pillow Pet? Maybe Santa could bring him a Pillow Pet? Maybe a Pillow Pet could come in the mail for him? Were we aware that Pillow Pets popped out into a full-sized pillow and then went BACK to being a soft cuddly animal? I mean, DID WE CATCH THAT AWESOME FEATURE?

I admit: We had absolutely no intention of ever buying him a Pillow Pet. Because...what the fuck. It's a PILLOW WITH A FACE.

Until we went to the mall and goddammit, walked right freaking in front of a Pillow Pet kiosk. The Pillow Pets...IN PERSON. LIVE AND IN THE POLYESTER FLESH.

Noah and Ezra stopped in their tracks. Noah covered his mouth, rendered momentarily speechless. Ezra barreled forward and grabbed the first Pillow With A Face he could get his hands on and promptly dropped to the floor to roll around with it, shrieking with rapturous joy.

Jason: But, guys! Guys! There's a LEGO STORE over there! LEGOS.

By this point, Noah had gotten over his shock and was jumping up and down because they had the LADYBUG! The LADYBUG! Which was all he's ever wanted in the WHOLE IN TIDE WORLD, DADDY. The kiosk lady obliged (THANKS) and pulled one down from the top shelf for him, and I thought, for a second, he was going to pass out and hit the floor like a felled tree.

Amy: I don't think Legos are going to work.

Jason: *nerdpouts, because maaaan, he really wanted some Legos.*

So guess what MY kids have!

Full size fail!

Not even close!

The whole ride home, Noah recited the commercial from the backseat, demonstrating the Pillow Pet's endless list of exclamation-point-worthy features, while Ezra buried his face in his dog version, kicking and squealing with uncontainable glee, a precocious start to a lifetime of Personal Fulfillment Through Goods As Seen On TeeVee.

Noah took his ladybug to show-and-tell the next week, despite our subtle suggestions of things that might be smaller and/or less totally lame. (Jason: LEGOS. WTF. I BUILT YOU A WAMPA CAVE.) We were wrong about that last bit, because Noah wandered through the hall like a rockstar, with children pointing and gaping and begging to hold it, while the other parents glared at me, because really? REALLY? I nodded and stared at my feet, embarrassed that my parental weakness was so brazenly on display, in the blobby shape of a cheerful humanoid mutant, because COME ON NOW, LADYBUGS DON'T EVEN HAVE FACES LIKE THAT.

Our neighbor stopped by the other day with her much older kids, and even they couldn't resist examining the MIND-BLOWING OPEN/CLOSE VELCO FUNCTION of the mighty Pillow Pets over and over again. "It's so SOFT," her daughter marveled, stroking the polyester pelt reverently.

Her son studied me quietly after that, sizing me up as an easy mark, and then started dropping hints about whether or not we actually played with all of our Wii games, because they didn't have nearly so many at his house, cue the big sad Precious Moments eyes.

I haven't seen these in the UK yet. I'm sure they will appear on the telly soon using the same advert but dubbed with a British accent, as so often happens (like we can't tell?!?)
Also, don't you iron your sheets? Scummy!*
*this is a joke, who irons sheets?

You know the part where "pajamas fit right inside! perfect for grandma's house!"? Who am I kidding, of course you do! ANYWAY. My daughter "packed" for her overnight trip to my mom's by putting three pairs of icarly underwear inside her pillow duck.

This post is killing me! Hilarious. We have all done that, haven't we? Talked a big game about how Barbies give little girls a bad body image and my kids will never, blah blah blah, cut to at least 20 Barbies and all the accessories they can play with in the playroom. my 4 year old sleeps with at least 2 Barbies in her bed every night.

I have to assume that they make those things by weaving crack into the filling because there's no other way to explain the bizarre obsession kids have with them. Both my 10 year old and my 4 year old want one. On one hand, I am very tempted to get them because I like to get my kids things that make them happy. On the other hand, could they have picked a stupider, crappier piece of crap to become enamored with? Because I think they could not have. Sigh. Guess which side will win out in the end?

As I was reading this, I was thinking "Don't go to [the mall I'm pretty sure you went to] because they have a kiosk." I hate all the kiosks at that mall. Kiosk people try to stop me all time to sell me some sea-salt face scrub, hair extensions, or a clothes steamer.

Thank goodness my kid is scared of stuffed animals (really, the manager at The Cheesecake Factory gave him a free penguin, he got the wide-eyed terrified look, and then threw it across the restuarant while I stammered "thanks so much!/so sorry for the projectile.").

My son received his pillow pet as a gift from grandma. It is a bee with four legs (when folded), a red nose and no stinger. The scientist in me cringes whenever I see it - which is often, because damn that boy loves his bee.

DianaCLT - I hate to tell you this -- and that I totally know this already -- but Pillow Pets are machine washable. We're already had to wash Ezra's because Ceiba likes to sleep on it. Just don't put them in the dryer.

OMFG my 3 year-old did the EXACT same thing. "I need a Pillow Pet. Santa can bring me a unicorn Pillow Pet?" Constantly. Then my sister, in her desire to outrank me as my child's Official Favorite Person Ever, bought her the goddamn unicorn Pillow Pet and had it shipped to our house.

And yes, she drags it to daycare. When the other parents give me a raised eyebrow, I immediately get defensive with all the, "It was a gift! My sister bought it for her! I promise my kid's really not a spoiled brat!"

But then, she named her unicorn "Magic," which is kind of adorable. And it IS really soft. Sigh. Dammit, I admit it, I'm weak.

I work next door to a mall, where I go nearly every day, and was drawn in to that very store (yes here in NJ they have an ENTIRE STORE) through a force larger than my own will. I don't have children young enough to want one of those but I couldn't resist going in and petting the...pets. They are so SOFT. They really are. Sigh.

Our 2 1/2 year old is ALL THOMAS ALL THE TIME right now... and I swear, Amy, it's the hardest thing not to buy them for him, because he genuinely loves them. We walked to Babies R Us the other day for an emergency diaper purchase. We just let him carry a Percy around the store, because we felt so bad. We didn't buy though.

Oh hell yes. All of that. I want to kill myself and MooseAMoose and the Starblob from Sprout all at once, every time I hear about a Pet!ICOULDSLEEPON! My poor daughter has been begging for the unicorn, I mean it's embarrassing, and we kept saying the generic noncommittal maybe one day... but then her friend at school brought the unicorn to show and tell and you would have thought her friend stabbed her in the face, because my daughter took one look at it and burst into tears. I mean red-splotchy-face dry heaving cries. (She's 4.5. She's good at dramatic, anyway, but this was actual ANGUISH.) So crap, I might have to buy a pillow pet soon, just to stop hearing about it. Her 2y.o. sister wants the dolphin and so help me God, they've already decided that their 6month old brother really wants the monkey. Which he'll probably poop and teethe on, so that's excellent, right? /rant (thank you!)

My (almost) four year old daughter lost her ever-loving mind when we saw those in the mall last weekend. She grabbed onto the zebra one (with hot pink fur, nonetheless) and would. not. let. go. I explained to her that she could ask for it for her birthday which is only two weeks away and she begrudingly let go, whimpering about the thing for the next twenty minutes. You know I went right back to that kiosk and snatched that thing up. Thinking I'll earn some cool mom points for this one, provided she hasn't forgotten about this and moved on to bigger and better things like the play-doh ice cream shop or zhu zhu pets. (Yeah, my kids watch too much tv, I know.)

I too remember the pre-commercial days and then our daughter got old enough to want to watch shows on Disney XD, where they actually have REAL commercials. OMG...one day I will see her shilling for those lame products because she recites each sales pitch perfectly. And she's not merely interested in the toys. At Easter last year she began doing her Kaboom toilet bowl cleaner pitch to relatives. She started with asking her great aunt if she had ever heard of KABOOM, then followed up with, "Is your toilet bowl stained? Then you need KABOOM!" Yep..totally hilarious and completly mortifying at the same time.

They've made the rounds over here, and my kid is getting one for his birthday. The other day I had to go get some new pillows (because when a toddler pees directly onto his pillow and you wash it on your front loader, said pillow will emerge completely FUBAR) and he was excited past all reason, screaming "You get me PILLOW PET???"

Yes! My son was talking about needing pillow pets to sleep and I thought it was some sweet name he had for his stuffed animals. Then he started talking about how he could take it anywhere etc and I realised it was a commercial. And yet, I am still contemplating buying...

You want to know what I just ordered this weekend? A knockoff version. I had every intention of getting just one for my 2 year old, then the 8 year old saw what I was doing. She begged & pleaded and thought of every reason under the sun why she needed one too. I caved. Oh well, I hope she knows we will be keeping that thing and she'll take it to college with her!

My kids are too old to be interested in them but I think they are adorable. I hate the song, though. And with the reactions of those boys, you really had no choice but to buy them. The reactions of everyone at school and your neighbors is hilarious, too.

I never post, but I had to! My almost two-year-old (very close to Ezra) gets so happy when she sees that commercial. It's so cheesy, but something is working for them. I heart this post! I think you should get an endorsement because you have me convinced I need one for my daughter now for real! ha.

My daughter TOTALLY wants the ladybug pillow pet too! The face on it creeps me out a little, though. They put a kiosk in our mall, too, right at the top of the escallator leading away from the play area. Evil.

I told her maybe Santa would bring one, in the hopes she'd forget about it by then. This post and comments are making me think that's not likely.

Word to the wise: if you order online on a Saturday, you probably won't get the confirmation email until Monday. Sooooo, don't do like I did and assume your order didn't "take" and order another one the next day. We are now the proud owners of 2 Panda pillow pets and I am way too lazy to send one back.

My mother succumbed to the pressure and bought my daughter and my nephew pillow pets... not sure if she's planning to hold out 'til Christmas or not, but the dog pillow pet will be in our home by the end of the year. Woo.

My 16 yo niece sent me a text around Christmas saying morgen doesn't have a pillow pet right. ..... she does now! My 10 yo nephew thought it was the perfect gift for his cousin. .... I had never heard of them. He was right though my 7 yo looooooves it. As do her friends. ;-)

Thanks, I didn't click on the video, yet I'll have the song stuck in my head for the rest of the week.
"Itsa pillow, itsa pet, itsa PILLOW F-ING PET!!!!!"

Yeah, our 20 month old LOVES that commercial. Luckily I navigate around that particular kiosk (probably at the very same mall) so I don't think she's equated TVcommerical = real life f-ing PILLOW PET!!!!!!

I was cleaning up a pee-pocolypse on the couch, and commented to the 5yo that I wanted to clean it up before it stained. He told me he'd seen something on the TV that cleaned up stains, and offered to get it for me for my birthday. Go, commercialism! ;-)

They're soft, they're cuddly, I want one!!! I'm 52 yrs. old but that commercial makes me want to go out and buy one tonight. All will be fine until the first time someone pukes on their pillow pet. Sorry, I just had to say it. I was thinking back to when my kids were little. Of course, they both would've had one of these. Heck, my 24 yr. old daughter will want one now if she sees the commercial.

I had a PillowPerson in the 80s and when Pier One sold smaller versions of pillow pets (at least from what those look like) my mom surpised me with one for my sister and me since she loves zebras and I still have a panda collection. We think of them as odd couch pillows and in our 20s still are amused by the velcroing in and out of them. I'm not sure I get the bad part of the pillow pets. They seem like a kind of cool kid toy--I have no children though.

I had to convince my daughters they did not want the unicorn pillow pet, because it was out of stock everywhere and the only one I could find was like $85 on amazon. We now have the dog, ladybug, and black cat. My kids have seen some commercials, but this is the only toy they constantly asked for.

This was so awesome. I bought my then 1 year old a cat pillow pet from the mall of america a couple years ago. Since then the older kid has liked it, but not NEEDED one. Until THE COMMERCIALS began. Now I can't even stop singing, "it's a pillow, it's a pet, its a pillow pet!". Curses. So the inlaws are going to get one for the older kid for her birthday or christmas or something. They have a bin of them here at the local ToysRUs which enraged me for some reason. I think because up until then, it was unattainable, only on tv or far away...now it's RIGHT THERE MOM.

I don't understand the Pillow Pet hate (though I haven't watched the commercial - maybe that will make me hate them). It's a lot more useful all of the examples of planned obsolescence my daughter needs after seeing them on TV. ("Jotz! They're so much fun! Buy the machine that makes Jotz! Of course, we'll stop selling Jotz blanks after Christmas, but don't let that stop you!")

OMG, as I come here to post the commercial is ON MY TV. As I am home with a sick child, one who really REALLY wants one, this is bad! I am just very happy that Walgreens was nice enough to tell me on their outdoor sign that they carried them so we can avoid the store now. Hey! and now my kid is begging for one. "They're right, Mommy, it IS so hard to pick!"

We bought the kids both a zoobie. It's like a pillow pet but it goes from pillow to blanket. My son thinks it's the best thing that ever existed. My daughter (a month younger than Ezra) doesn't care much for it yet, but I'm sure it won't be long before she is obsessed as well.

OK, that totally made me giggle. My 3 year old has been begging for a pillow pet ever since she saw the commercial. Her 1 year old sister got the bunny for her birthday, and has no interest in it, so I tried giving it to the 3 year old. Oh, no! She has to have her VERY OWN pillow pet. Those clever marketing bastards.

Also, how is it possible nobody has mentioned the butterfly garden yet? Every time that commercial comes on, my 3 year old says "Mom! Look! You can grow your very own butterflies!" Dude. You will NEVER get a butterfly garden. I have to draw the line somewhere.

Okay, so, being childless, I get to miss out on a lot of this stuff. My SIL calls me and tells me what my niece wants, and then I speak with my niece about how awesome Hannah Botana (that's how she says it) is...and then I buy her a few things on the wish list except for anything having to do with Botana. Pillow Pets were on the list for the birthday this year, and my mom bought it. Thanks to this entry, I now get it. SIL wanted to be able to say, "Oh, my MIL bought it for her!"

Smooth, Sis. Real smooth.

Now explain to me the "Bopit" I purchased, because I'd like to know the story behind that.

Most ridiculous thing ever *but* my 16 year old (yes, you read that right, one - six year old, as in about to get her DRIVER'S LICENSE) wants one SO BAD. Oh, and she wants the penguin and "claims it is the coolest invention ever because it is a pet and a pillow". Should I mention this child has five dogs?

This same situation happened with the faux denim diapers you put Ezra in! My mom saw these things on a commercial and heavily hinted that she would very much enjoy a grandchild to dote upon and buy a Pillow Pet for because they're just sooo adorable.

I had no idea what she was talking about so looked them up and found that they have names such as, Sir Horse and Tardy Turtle. I really can't tell if that makes them better or worse.

Never heard of these, but I'm in Europe. A flat stuffed animal? Are you just annoyed you're one of "those people" who buy the things they see on TV? Eh, could be worse. Remember Cabbage Patch Dolls? I had 5 and my brother had 3. I had friends who had 30. What about Beanie Babies? Even grownups got involved in that insanity (not me that time around). Tickle Me Elmo? Garbage Pail Kids? I'd be glad a fluffy pillow is all they want! :-)))

I had never heard of these, and I didn't even know there was a commercial... but I do know that when I saw that kiosk at M. Mall this weekend I immediately walked up to it and tried to figure out which one my 4 month old would like. So I guess that means I am attracted to the same stuff as toddlers? My poor child doesn't stand a chance...

LOL! My 8 and 5 year old boys want these. Maybe for Christmas. They call me in to watch the commercial. My 5 year old also thinks we should get the thing you add water to and put in the dryer to steam out wrinkles.

hello 1977 Barbie Dream House! We just took it out last weekend for my daughter who is 8 and yesterday I have two almost 11 year olds overwhelmed with glee at getting to play with it.. Best gift ever..

You know that feeling you get when you read something and you're all OMG! I TOTALLY KNOW WHAT SHE'S TALKING ABOUT! I just had that moment. Only mine? WANTS THE PIG THE PIG THE PIG MOMMY PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE! She even jumps at the tv when the commercial starts, face a half inch from the screen and pointer finger at the ready so that at the end she can jab the television as they pan across the WIDE SELECTION OF FULL-FACED ANIMALS and BE SURE I KNOW WHICH ONE IS THE PIG!

I never understood the inevitability of buying kids things they saw on TV, whether commercial-based or character-based, and always thought I would just avoid it altogether or resist it when it arrived. HAHAHAHA. My kid (17 months) doesn't even watch TV other than the occasional mostly ignored Thomas episode from Netflix. But he recently discovered his father's comic books, and now can identify Iron Man, Captain America (merka!), and the Hulk. And so we took him to a comic book shop, where he lost his mind. And we bought him a $15 plastic Iron Man coin bank (they didn't have any plush things, so it was the closest we could get to toddler appropriate). He sleeps with it at night. And I am eating my hat.

"Momma, Momma, Momma, can we go to the toy store and get one of those pillow pets? Momma, Momma Momma I want the panda, no the dog, no the pig, no the frog." four year old
Baby on the couch, "oooooh!" and points.
Dear Jesus, I'm not pulling up your website at home.

I must be ahead of my time! I got each of my grandchildren(5, ages 1-5) one of these last Christmas. Yes,there were tears of joy. We have the bee, bunny, puppy, cow, and hippo. They are cheaper in multiples on line, and more variety. The oldest 3 have requested another one each for this year.

Just FYI, there are Pillow Pets and then there are MY Pillow Pets. Not the same company. Not sure which is the knock-off. So the ladybug might be bigger in the other company's version -- our mall has a MY Pillow Pets kiosk. It's all I have seen.

My own kids just want MIGHTY BEANS MIGHTY BEANS MIGHTY BEANS, also because of lovely commercials. I do not believe they have yet spotted the Pillow Pets. Probably because they now eschew Sesame Street in favor of gems like Wizards of Waverly Place.

Is it too conspiracy theory to think subliminal messages are involved? Because my three year old son has never asked for anything from a commercial until he saw these pillow pets. I pretty much ignored but Grandma is here this week and she is not as strong to his suggestions that "TC could might use a pillow pet?" He also all of a sudden wants the Sea Pals paper plates that he sees on commercial. Kid, it's a plate...a plate that goes in the trash after 1 use. But he convinced Grandma to send him some when she gets home so more power to him. That Pillow Pet jingle will be in my head the rest of my work day now...sigh.

Luckily our kidlet is still only 7 months old, too young for the pillow pet craze. Every time the commercial comes on tv though my husband and I look at each other and exchange snickers because seriously it looks like they are disemboweling the thing every time they flip it over and rip open the velcro fastener.

A KIOSK IN THE MALL!!! AND IT'S NOT EVEN CHRISTMAS??? DAMMIT, there's no escape. Pillow pets are the under 10 sets' equvilant to crack. I've never seen such screaming for a commercial, hell, the two year old even joined in. And OF COURSE there's a birthday coming up! YAY!